Turkey becomes the First Country-Member of the United Nations of Business Angels

The Business Angels Association of Turkey (TBAA) became the first national member of Global Business Angels Network (GBAN), it was announced at the Global Entrepreneurship Congress in Milan. The TBAA will represent Turkey at the United Nations of the global community of business angels and early stage markets. The GBAN Executive Committee selects one organization per country to serve as the interface between that nation's angel community and GBAN efforts.

Selection criteria:

• Recognised as neutral and inclusive by angel organizations in that country;
• Open to engaging actively with other local Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN) members to improve the local entrepreneurial ecosystem;
• Willing to help angels and others engage in start-up and scale-up community efforts.

Global Business Angels Network (GBAN)

Cross-border collaboration and syndication among angels and angel federations has come a long way since the 1999 initiation of the EBAN, The European Trade Association for Early Stage Market Players. The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation launched the Angel Capital Association (ACA) in 2005, and the Portuguese Federation of Angels initiated the World Business Angel Association (WBAA) in 2009.  All have helped lay the groundwork for the next generation global network, open to all serious non-institutional funders of entrepreneurial ventures: the Global Business Angels Network (GBAN).

GBAN brings greater public awareness and engagement to the role business angels play in helping new firms start and scale. It interfaces with entrepreneurs, policymakers, other early-stage finance actors and leading entrepreneurial support programs to strengthen the global entrepreneurial ecosystem.

www.gban.co

 

GBAN and the Global Entrepreneurship Network

GBAN is an initiative of the Global Entrepreneurs Network (GEN), the community of programs and policy initiatives, now operating in 150 countries.

 

It enables angels and their advocates to participate more actively in building and strengthening local and regional entrepreneurial ecosystems, by forging connections with start-up communities and policymakers and providing invaluable knowledge sharing and resources.

 

The Global Voice of Turkey's Business Angels and Early Stage Market

The TBAA is one of the strongest angel investment associations in Europe, representing 70% of the angel investment community of Turkey. Eight of the 12 business angel networks in the country are TBAA members.

 

Established in 2011 by a group of pioneer business angels, the TBAA represents a sector that is expected to invest an estimated 400 million Euros annually in a few years' time and has a key role to play in Turkey's future, notably in the funding of SMEs and the creation of wealth and jobs. Most TBAA business angel networks, representing over 300 angel investors, are accredited by the government.

 

The TBAA hosted the European Business Angels Investment Forum last year in Istanbul with the participation of over 200 global business angels from 32 countries. The TBAA also holds the Vice Presidency of EBAN in Brussels.

 

www.melekyatirimcilardernegi.org

 

Altuntas:  ' The TBAA will contribute to the fast development of GBAN in South East Europe and beyond'

Baybars Altuntas, TBAA President, highlighted the importance of a global business angels network in increasing cross-border investments in start-ups and high-growths. Looking beyond Turkey, said Altuntas, the TBAA will promote GBAN in South East Europe and Middle East. ''We see GBAN as the United Nations of early stage markets of each country, and it includes business angels, start-ups, incubators, technoparks, accelerators, crowd funding platforms, SMEs and entrepreneurs.' Altuntas pointed to the TBAA's readiness to share its know-how with countries that will be represented at the GBAN.''

 

Johnson:  'We are most pleased that our Turkish Members, the TBAA are lending their leadership to take this forward in Turkey'

Candace Johnson, President of EBAN commented on Turkey's full membership and the TBAA's role as a global voice and representative of the Turkish business angels and early-stage market ecosystem: "It is with great joy that EBAN the European Trade Association of Business Angel Networks, Seed Funds and Early Stage Market Players, MBAN the Middle East North Africa Network of Business Angel Networks, Seed Funds and Early Stage Market Players and ABAN, the African Network of Business Angel Networks, Seed Funds and Early Stage Market Players join the Global Business Angel Network to support the wonderful work that the Kaufmann Foundation and the Global Entrepreneurship Network have done to create a global innovation and entrepreneurial society and economy.  We are most pleased that our Turkish Members, the TBAA are lending their leadership to take this forward in Turkey."

 

Ortmans: ' We welcome Turkey's TBAA as the first national member of GBAN'

Jonathan Ortmans, President of the Global Entrepreneurship Network; Senior Fellow, Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation; and Co-chair of the Global Business Angels Network, commented on Turkey's full membership and the TBAA's role as a global voice and representative of the Turkish business angels and early-stage market ecosystem: 'We are extremely pleased to welcome Turkey and the TBAA as the first national member of Global Business Angels Network. We needed to ensure the first country we chose would be a good role model for other countries. Because the TBAA's spectacular contributions to the development of the entrepreneurial and angel investment ecosystem - not just in Turkey but throughout the region - it was clear that the TBAA was the perfect choice.'

 

 

Angel investment will create new jobs and international trade for Spoonfed

Equity Gap announced today a £250K investment in catering software company Spoonfed. Based in Livingston, the startup will use the investment, which is co-funded by the Scottish Investment Bank, the investment arm of Scottish Enterprise, to create new jobs and accelerate the internationalisation of their automated catering software.

Spoonfed launched in 2013 and already boasts a customer base that stretches across the UK, from Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow to Birmingham, Manchester, and London, including high street bakery chains, independent sandwich retailers, outside catering businesses as well as institutional caterers such as universities and colleges.

 

The business has also seen interest from the US, Australia and Asia, and with a more mature international market in this sector, the investment will be used to speed up Spoonfed's entry into the international marketplace.

 

Spoonfed was born out of the recession. Its co-founders, Willie Biggart and Murray McNicol, were running a drop off catering business supplying food for business meetings, and to protect the business against the impact of the recession they created software to automate the catering business process, saving them time, reducing mistakes and increasing margins.

Having pulled the catering business through the recession, it became clear that there was value in this automated system, and with nothing else like it on the market, the business owners sold the catering company to work full time on developing the software.

Willie Biggart has previously provided equity funding to startups and knew he wanted to approach funding Spoonfed in a different way. Working closely with their customers, the company worked relentlessly for two years, testing and debugging the software before launch.

 

"Our strategy was to make sure our business had traction before we took it to angel groups like Equity Gap. Having bootstrapped the company with personal investment of nearly £500k from founders and sweat equity from suppliers, we were able to present a well-oiled and properly financed enterprise to investors, free from problems, and with a customer pipeline firmly in place," said Willie.

 

 

New junior branch of the EIS Association launches

Green Shoots launches to support young professionals working with EIS and the alternative investment industry

Green Shoots, the junior branch of the EIS Association ('EISA') has launched, aimed at celebrating and supporting young professionals working with the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) and in the alternative investment industry. The event, which took place last night at The Hoxton in Shoreditch, was the organisation's first networking event, bringing together members and potential members to meet, interact and build networks.

The EISA was established to support and represent organisations working with the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) and Seed EIS (SEIS). GreenShoots aims to create a separate space for young professionals in this industry, giving them a voice and an opportunity to develop their own networks, interest and knowledge of the world of EIS/SEIS and alternative investments.

As well as holding regular networking events, Green Shoots will run bi-annual technical seminars, to encourage members to come forward and share skills and knowledge. There will also be an emphasis on reaching out to the entrepreneurial community, with the aim of building relationships with early stage companies, opening dialogue about EIS and SEIS and the role these schemes can play in early-stage investment.

Green Shoots is run by a committee of three: Sarah Abrahams, Grant Thornton UK LLP; Fuchsia Curry, AngelNews; and Natasha Head, RW Blears LLP.

Natasha Head of Green Shoots said of the launch: "The EISA provides a fantastic space for professionals across the early stage alternative investment industry to come together and act as a single voice, and this has been our inspiration for Green Shoots."

"As the early stage company space evolves, so must the investment industry. With this in mind, we are excited to be launching Green Shoots, offering a new way for young professionals to connect with and support their trade body, build their own networks and learn from one another."

Sarah Wadham, Director General of the EISA, said: "This is a fantastic initiative from Sarah, Fuchsia and Natasha. We all appreciate the value of building a professional network, and Green Shoots is a great way of encouraging younger professionals to do this, whilst also learning - and hopefully having fun as well."

The launch of Green Shoots is sponsored by Intelligent Partnership, Acceleris Capital, Grant Thornton UK LLP, RW Blears LLP and Mercia Fund Management.

If you are under 35 years old, working with EIS/SEIS, and wish to learn more about joining Green Shoots, please visit: http://www.eisa.org.uk/green-shoots/

 

Archangels and SIB invest £3.3 million in three Scottish companies

Archangels, the prominent business angel syndicate which has been at the forefront of early stage investing in Scotland for more than two decades, announces that, alongside Scottish Enterprise's investment arm, Scottish Investment Bank (SIB), it has completed additional rounds of funding totalling over £3.3m for three growing Scottish businesses.

All three businesses are now competing on a global stage and have received support from Archangels from early stage. The capital raised will enable all three Scottish entrepreneurial initiatives to fund further growth.

 

Around 60 of Archangels' investor members chose to participate in these funding rounds.

 

PowerPhotonic Ltd which, from its Dalgety Bay base, designs, manufactures and supplies high value optics that manipulate the light from lasers for customers in a range of sectors from defence to the medical sector, has this week received a further £2m of investment from Archangels and SIB.  The business will use the additional funding to increase its product development, manufacturing and sales & marketing capabilities.

 

Livingston-based Bloxx Ltd, whose web and email filtering software is used by schools, colleges and companies across Europe and the US, has received a further £800,000 of capital.  Bloxx plans to revamp its sales operation to take advantage of the growth in demand for real time filtering of content to ensure that customers can effectively block inappropriate internet and email content.

 

Administrate is based in Edinburgh and provides online training management software that automates the workflow required to deliver education. The company has received a further £577,000 of investment in this most recent round and will use the funds to support further product development, customer service, sales and marketing.

 

John Waddell, Chief Executive of Archangels, said:

"Each of these businesses is world class in its own field and they are all excellent examples of the types of Scottish enterprises that Archangels is uniquely positioned to support. They simply couldn't have developed to the stage that they have today without Archangels and we're proud of what we have achieved together with all three businesses."

 

Dr Roy McBride, Chief Executive of Power Photonic, said:

"We've already proved that we can produce the highest quality optics for laser applications in a number of sectors here in Europe, in the US and in Asia Pacific.  This new investment in the business will accelerate our growth plans, allowing us to take on additional staff to expand our product development, manufacturing and sales activities."

 

Charles Sweeney, Chief Executive of Bloxx, said:

"There are 100 new websites launched every minute across the world and our real time web filtering lets schools, colleges and businesses protect themselves and their people from the less savoury content that they may otherwise be exposed to.  This investment from Archangels allows us to take our sales operation in the UK and USA to the next level."

 

John Peebles, CEO of Administrate, said:

"We were delighted to reach break-even last year and as we grew we identified key areas where investment could help us accelerate our growth.  Appointments in sales, marketing, product development and customer service will directly translate to helping our clients save time and deliver better education.  With customers on six continents, we're proud to be located and creating jobs in Scotland, and couldn't be where we are today without our team or our investors."

 

Kerry Sharp, Head of the Scottish Investment Bank, said:

"We are pleased to be able to invest alongside our longstanding co-investment partner, Archangels, in these three companies. All three of these businesses are great examples of forward thinking, innovative, Scottish companies that are actively competing at an international level. We look forward to continuing our relationship with them as they accelerate their growth plans with these most recent rounds of investment."